As some wise person once quipped: I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. The mere mention of the creamy concoction brings tears to my eyes and drool stains to my keyboard. Now, you're probably thinking, ice cream … freebie … free ice cream? Oh my God, where?! And I'll tell you. But first we're gonna chat about something a little more important.
Ever heard of First Book? No? Allow me to enlighten you. First Book's single mission is quite simple: to foster a love for reading in children from low-income families. By working with existing literacy programs throughout the county, the organization has a tremendous impact on local mentoring, tutoring and family literacy programs. While the nonprofit can't make illiteracy, poverty or substandard schools magically disappear, the books it supplies give children something brand new to call their own, often for the first time in their lives. And it takes that little to instill a child with self-esteem, along with a positive connection to reading. So important when you consider the numbers of a 1999 UNICEF study: Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century illiterate, roughly 130-million of whom are children (73-million girls alone). Without someone in their corner, these kids will continue to live in more desperate poverty and poorer health than those who can read, and the world's number of functioning illiterate will continue to grow.
In 2000, First Book put more than 4-million books in the hands of hundreds of thousands of children. To surpass that number in 2001, the nonprofit continues to form partnerships with everyone from Nabisco to America Online, including several major publishing houses. Oh yeah — and Baskin-Robbins.
Which brings us back to our mouthwatering beginning. From 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, Baskin-Robbins is giving away free scoops of its famous 31 flavors, and for each one, First Book gets a donation. Talk about your sweet deals. Bring your spouse, friends, kids, co-workers, grandparents … hell, bring your mailman, and do your part to lick illiteracy.
Check your local Yellow Pages, visit www.BaskinRobbins.com, or call 323-857-9100 for the nearest location.
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 3, 2001.